Submarket Snapshot: Beverly Hills’ office market in Q1 2016

Silicon Beach may have the hype, but Beverly Hills still has the cash. At least that’s what last quarter’s numbers seemed to indicate.

The overall average Class A asking rate for office space in Beverly Hills closed the first quarter at $5.42 a square foot a month, making Beverly Hills, on average, the most expensive Class A market in Los Angeles County, slightly ahead of Santa Monica, according to a report by NGKF.

The overall average asking rent in Beverly Hills exceeded its 2008 peak of $4.45 a square foot a month by 12.4 percent, well ahead of the West Los Angeles market at large, which was only 0.2 percent above its 2008 peak in the first quarter.

Beverly Hills’ office vacancy rate, however, climbed 60 basis points to close the first quarter at 7.1 percent, compared to the 6.5 percent rate posted last quarter. It still boasts one of the lowest vacancy rates not only on the Westside, but in all of Los Angeles.

Net absorption totaled negative 14,804 square feet in the first quarter, the largest quarterly net occupancy loss for Beverly Hills since mid-2012.

There were no large superstar leases in the tight market, like there were in Hollywood. The biggest was United Talent Agency’s 5,898-square-foot lease at 9336 Civic Center Drive, followed by the Cellar of Beverly Hills’ 5,576-square foot lease at 9250 Wilshire Boulevard.

There was no construction in the first quarter.